Key Financings: Major deals and fundraising activity in the telecom sector

The year 2025 witnessed significant financial activity. Key developments included the government becoming a majority shareholder in a private telco,
Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi); the Tata Group’s aggressive expansion into the global
electronics supply chain; and data centre players jumping on to the initial public offering (IPO) bandwagon. The year also witnessed substantial fundraising activity by telcos, digital infrastructure companies and other stakeholders, along with significant mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

tele.net takes a look at the key financing deals and activities in the Indian telecom sector during 2025…

M&A and stake sales

The M&A landscape in 2025, particularly for telecom, was dominated by the indigenisation of the electronics supply chain and the aggressive consolidation of promoter holdings.

The year’s most significant strategic acquisition was undertaken by Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL) in a multi-tranche deal that signalled a new era for Indian manufacturing. TEPL acquired a controlling 60 per cent stake in Pegatron Technology India, which operates an iPhone plant, strengthening its position as an Apple supplier in a rapidly growing market. The Competition Commission of India cleared the acquisition, allowing Tata to integrate its subsidiary, TEL Components, directly into the Pegatron operation. The deal is expected to provide the Tata Group access to the global manufacturing supply chain.

Bharti Airtel focused on balancing global expansion with domestic simplification. To this end, the telco announced plans to increase its stake in its Africa unit to over 62 per cent via all-cash transactions. The company stated that the acquisition would be executed for a cash consideration and priced in compliance with applicable regulations. This move underscores Africa’s role as Airtel’s primary engine for subscriber growth as the Indian market reaches saturation.

In one of the largest block deals of the year, Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) and promoter entity Indian Continent Investment Limited together sold over 85 million shares in Bharti Airtel. Bharti Telecom Limited also stepped in to buy 12 million shares, strengthening the Mittal family’s core control to 40.5 per cent.

Further, Airtel transferred its 69.94 per cent stake in Airtel Payments Bank to Airtel Limited, in a bid to move its fintech arm under the main corporate umbrella.

However, the most notable financial restructuring occurred when Vi converted Rs 369.5 billion of its spectrum and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues into equity, making the Indian government the largest shareholder in the telco with a 48.99 per cent stake. The conversion provided Vi with a clean balance sheet required to finally move towards a Rs 250 billion bank loan. To ensure the company remains a private entity in spirit, the board lowered the promoter governance threshold from 13 per cent to 10 per cent. This allows the Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone UK to retain management control despite their diluted stakes (9.5 per cent and 16.1 per cent
respectively).

In a major liquidity event for the vendor ecosystem, network giants Nokia and Ericsson fully divested the equity stakes they had acquired as part of Vi’s earlier debt-to-equity restructuring. Nokia Solutions and Networks offloaded its entire 0.95 per cent stake (1.027 billion shares) in April 2025 at Rs 7.65 per share, raising Rs 7.85 billion. The deal saw significant interest from global institutions, with Goldman Sachs (Singapore) emerging as a primary buyer, acquiring shares worth Rs 4.57 billion. Following this, in June 2025, Ericsson India divested its 0.6 per cent stake (633.7 million shares) in Vi at Rs 6.76 per share, raising Rs 4.28 billion.

In the broadband space, SAR Televenture acquired Tikona Infinet in a Rs 5.78 billion share swap. With this deal, SAR Televenture is set to strengthen its presence in the enterprise broadband segment, positioning itself as the third largest player in this space. Further, the acquisition brings Tikona’s pan-Indian unified licence (ISP, Category A) and national long distance licence within SAR Televenture’s fold. These licences enabled Tikona to offer broadband, leased lines, virtual private networks and other telecom services. Post acquisition, SAR Televenture’s service portfolio will expand to include 4G/5G tower deployment, fibre-to-the-home solutions, optical fibre cable infrastructure, enterprise networking solutions and retail broadband services.

Netgear acquired Chennai-based VAAG Systems to enhance its in-house software development capabilities. As part of the deal, VAAG Systems’ executive team, research and development experts, and engineers will join Netgear and contribute to the company’s new Chennai-based software development centre.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) also completed its previously announced acquisition of Juniper Networks, Inc. The combination positions HPE to capture the growing artificial intelligence (AI) and hybrid cloud market opportunity by creating a cloud-native and AI-driven IT portfolio, including a full, modern networking stack. The transaction doubles the size of HPE’s networking business and provides customers with a comprehensive portfolio of networking solutions.

In the direct-to-home (DTH) space, Tata Sons increased its stake in Tata Play to 70 per cent by acquiring Temasek’s 10 per cent holding. This transaction raised Tata Sons’ ownership in the DTH and digital content distribution platforms to 70 per cent, while Walt Disney holds the remaining 30 per cent.

Fundraising and investment activity

Fundraising and investment also remained high, with companies focusing
on AI integration and infrastructure modernisation.

In the network equipment space, Mavenir executed a massive recapitalisation plan supported by Siris. By eliminating over $1.3 billion in debt and infusing $300 million in new financing, the company pivoted its focus entirely towards software-defined networking and open radio access network. This will strengthen its position in the Indian market, where telcos are looking for more cost-effective and vendor-neutral ways to deploy 5G and future 6G
small cells.

While the government’s stake acquisition remained pivotal, Vi’s promoters also stepped up, raising Rs 19.1 billion through a preferential allotment. Issued at Rs 11.28 per share, this investment was critical for meeting immediate working capital requirements and for signalling to banks evaluating the company’s massive debt-refinancing request that it was in a healthier financial position.

Meanwhile, CloudExtel secured Rs 2 billion in debt funding from a private Indian bank to build AI-ready infrastructure for telecom operators, enterprises and data centres. The company noted that its existing shareholders have made a follow-on equity investment on a proportionate basis to support the company’s ongoing expansion plans. The capital will also support CloudExtel’s upcoming data centre interconnect network initiative, which will begin in Mumbai and extend across major metro cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi and Pune.

Reflecting the growing intersection of telecom and national security, Avantel Limited announced a Rs 809 million rights issue. The funds were earmarked for expanding manufacturing in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The funds will support the establishment of dedicated facilities for designing and producing electronics, antennas and satellite communication systems. The investment will also back the development of ground-station-as-a-service capabilities, as well as upgrades in software-defined
radios, mobile communication systems and aerospace antennas.

Key developments in the digital infrastructure space

The year 2025 was also the year when the relationship between telcos and their tower partners reached a turning point. Indus Towers completed the acquisition of Bharti Airtel’s passive infrastructure, but a secondary deal for 3,400 towers from Bharti Hexacom was put on hold. Despite this, Airtel announced its intention to buy an additional 5 per cent in Indus Towers, a move valued at over Rs 50 billion.

Moreover, both Airtel and Vi exited their Wi-Fi joint venture (JV), Firefly Networks, selling their stakes to iBUS Network for a combined Rs 90 million. Airtel will receive Rs 45 million from the transaction. Similarly, Vi entered into a share purchase agreement with iBUS for the sale of its entire 50 per cent shareholding in Firefly for the same amount of Rs 45 million. This marked the end of public Wi-Fi focus for the two telcos, which now seem to be more driven towards 5G-led fixed wireless access services.

Sirius Digitech Limited, a JV of Adani Global Limited, Mauritius, acquired the remaining 22.5 per cent stake in Parserlabs India Private Limited. The acquisition will strengthen the Adani Group’s expansion in data centres and cloud services.

In a move that bolsters India’s data sovereignty, Lightstorm acquired assets from RTI Cables. While financial details of the deal were not disclosed, the acquisition extends Lightstorm’s connectivity reach to over 250 data centres across 14 countries and increases its network capacity to 1,500 Tbps. This adds 21,000 km of subsea cable
systems to its portfolio, including the crucial Singapore-US route that avoids the geopolitically sensitive South China Sea. For Indian enterprises, this means more resilient, low-latency connectivity to global cloud hubs.

In another key move in the data centre space, CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) entered into agreements to divest minority stakes in three under-development data centre assets to the CapitaLand India Data Centre Fund (CIDCF), which is managed by CapitaLand Investment (CLI). Under the transaction, CIDCF will acquire a 20.2 per cent stake in each of the three data centre assets. As per CLI, the total purchase consideration for the deals is estimated at Rs 7 billion (around S$99.7 million). As part of the arrangement, CIDCF will also receive a right of first offer to acquire a stake in CLINT’s fourth data centre project, CapitaLand DC Bangalore, located in Bengaluru.

IPOs

A notable development during 2025 was the transformation of data centres from private equity-led assets to publicly listed entities.

In a first, Sify filed for a landmark Rs 37 billion IPO, the first pure-play data centre listing in India. A significant portion of the proceeds is earmarked for expanding IT power capacity, in line with Sify’s strong bet on AI, which will require nearly a tenfold increase in the domestic server capacity.

Further, ESDS Software Solutions made its second attempt at a public listing with
Rs 6 billion IPO. With a focus on cloud computing equipment, ESDS is targeting the small and medium segment, which is increasingly shifting its operations to the cloud to leverage AI tools.

Meanwhile, Pace Digitek raised Rs 8.19 billion to fund its manufacturing expansion. The IPO was heavily anchored by global institutions such as Societe Generale and Bandhan MF.

Outlook for 2026

The financial momentum of 2025 is expected to culminate in several industry-defining events in 2026. The most anticipated event is the potential IPO of Reliance Jio in the first half of 2026. Analysts expect the listing to be a valuation reset for the entire sector, potentially valuing Jio as a global deep-tech enterprise.

Meanwhile, Vi is in a make-or-break phase. With its massive government debt now converted into equity and a repayment schedule locked until 2041, the telco appears to be in a better position to undertake bank loans. If successful, the proceeds are expected to fund its 5G roll-out.

Further, 2026 will likely be the year when satellite communication moves towards operationalisation. With the regulatory framework for spectrum allocation finally stabilising, companies like Avantel and Sirius Digitech are already positioning themselves to provide terrestrial infrastructure for global satellite constellations.

Kuhu Singh